About Peoria Area Labor Management Council (PALM)

In recent years, PALM has developed a name as the health promotion organization that organizes Moon Walk and first brought the Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP) program to Peoria. But PALM has a long history of supporting the Peoria community in other ways.

PALM was established in 1985 as a means of bringing closer together labor and management forces in the Peoria area. Through its 20-plus year history, PALM has provided services and opportunities to its members and constituents, proving successful in its mission.

However, one key issue remained at the bargaining table: health care. Who would pay for it and how? In 1992, to help address the issue of rising health care costs, PALM created LMC Health Programs, a health care subsidiary offering a variety of group-purchasing strategies, including a mail-order prescription drug card plan and a PPO program. As with other such programs, health care costs came down as a result of cost-saving measures, but then began to rise again, first slowly, then rapidly for employers and employees across the county. The issue of health care continued to be a stumbling block for both labor and management.

PALM realized it was time to look deeper at the health crisis underlying the health care crisis. To address this issue, the organization turned its attention to health promotion and disease prevention.

In spring 2001, PALM held a two-night Open Space Forum on Community Health. More than 200 participants used the open format to discuss a wide range of issues related to health and health care. The PALM/LMC Health Care Task Force gathered new members as a result of the forum.

With input from the renewed group, PALM and co-sponsors presented a major conference on health care in March 2003, launched the now-annual Moon Walk community walking program in April 2003, and brought to the Peoria area the CHIP lifestyle medicine program beginning in January 2004. PALM handed the CHIP program off to Illinois Central College in the fall of 2006, where it continues to assist Peoria area residents make healthier choices in their lives.

For more information about PALM, visit www.palmpeoria.org.